RIBBING
Cast on 60 stitches, and divide in half over your circular needles. Add a stitch marker at the start.
Join the round and work k2,p2 for 20 rounds.

CUFF
Knit 50 rounds for the cuff / leg of the sock. This will give a nice length for a standard ladies sock – but stop shorter if you would prefer an ankle sock or go longer if you want something more like knee high!

HEEL FLAP
The number of rows you need to knit always equals half the number of stitches you cast on to start with. In this case, you will knit 30 rows for the heel flap.

Starting with the wrong side, knit the 1st stitch, purl to the second to last stitch, slip the last stitch as if to purl, with the yarn in front.

Then on the right side rows, knit the first stitch, then slip the next as if to purl (yarn not in front though, yarn must be as if to knit still), continue alternating knit and slip as if to purl until you get to the last stitch which needs to be slipped as if to purl but this time with the yarn in front.

Continue with the above wrong and right side rows, ending on a right side row. This will make a really nice ribbed reinforced heel.

SHAPE THE HEEL
For this section of the pattern, slip stitches are all as if to purl, with the yarn behind.

Continue in this way, slipping the first stitch, and then alternating the knit and purls, taking in one more stitch each time, until you have 18 stitches on the needle.

GUSSET
Pick up 15 stitches knitwise down the side of the heel flap (I find that its neater to pick up a couple of extra stitches here to make a neater job of this join. So I pick up an initial 15 stitches, and then usually an extra 2 or 3 – but make a note of how many extra you picked up, as you will need to do the same on the other side!). Place a marker.

Knit 30 stitches from the cuff, place another marker.
Pick up 15 (plus any extra) stitches knitwise from the other side of the heel flap.
Arrange the stitches evenly over the two needles.

GUSSET SHAPING
Round 1: k to within 3 stitches of the 1st marker. K2tog, k1, k to next marker, k1, Ssk2tog, k to end of round.
Round 2: knit.
Repeat rounds 1 & 2 until you have 60 stitches again over both needles. End on a round 2.

FOOT
Knit 48 rounds, for standard ladies / medium sock.

TOE SHAPING
Knit to arrange stitches over the two needles evenly, (I find that I need to knit a few stitches at this stage so that my needles are in the right place for me to separate the stitches equally between the two needles) with the top half of the sock on one needle and the bottom half on the other – as if you were looking at the foot from above. You are now decreasing at either side to shape the toe, so you need to make sure you have arranged the stitches correctly so that you don’t give yourself a sideways toe!
Decrease at each end of the row at each side:
K1, Ssk, knit across until 3 stitches remain. K2tog, k1.
Turn and repeat on the other side.
Knit one round.
Repeat the decrease rounds and knit rounds until 16 stitches remain on each needle.

KITCHENER STITCH
You will now join the toe up using Kitchener stitch for an invisible join. Cut your yarn leaving enough length to thread onto a needle and sew up the toe. I usually cut around 30cms.

To set up for the stitch, make sure the yarn is coming from the back needle. Pass the yarn through the first stitch of the front needle, as if to purl. Next pass the yarn through the first stitch on the back needle as if to knit.

Make sure that the yarn stays underneath the needles after every stitch.

Now you are ready to Kitchener stitch!
Front needle part 1: pass the yarn through the first stitch as if to knit, slip the stitch off the needle.
Front needle part 2: pass the yarn through the next stitch as if to purl, leave it on the needle.
Back needle part 1: pass the yarn through the first stitch as if to purl, slip the stitch off the needle.
Back needle part 2: pass the yarn through the next stitch as if to knit, leave it on the needle.

Continue until all stitches have been used up and there are none left on the needles!
You can do Kitchener stitch fairly loosely, as you can tighten the stitches up once you are done.
I then turn the sock inside out and use up some of the remaining yarn to weave back through the toe area and down the foot slightly to reinforce and secure my yarn before I snip it off.
Weave in the end of the yarn at the start of the sock at the ribbing, and hey presto, you just made a gosh darn sock!! Now get cracking on the second one so you can have super snuggly feet!